SILVER CITY — While the holidays are often referred to as a magical time of year, one Grant County woman has been a part of making magic for the past few months as part of the Disney College at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

Angelia Narvaez is a 20-year-old Western New Mexico student who lives with her parents, Robert and Cindy Narvaez, and her two younger brothers, Knute, 17, and Luke, 7, in Pinos Altos. Angelia has spent the past four months living and working in Disneyland as part of the Disney College program.

Narvaez first heard about Disney College a couple of years ago when she saw posters about it at the university. She applied a few years ago but wasn't accepted. Then, earlier this year, she went on the website www.disneycollege.com and applied again.

"I had applied for it a couple of times," she said. "This was the third time and I was accepted."

She said it's hard to say what made her stand out this time.

"It all depends on what they are looking for at the time," she said. "If you don't have that Disney Magic in you they are not going to accept you."

Disney College is essentially a paid internship program operated by The Walt Disney Company placing college students in semester-long paid internships at either Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., or the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.

The application process asks candidates what their area of interests are and they are given the options of several different areas including attractions, custodial, food and beverage, or retail.

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They can be placed in the California Adventure park or within Disneyland at either Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland or Tunetown. The candidates then take a web-based interview before it is determined whether they will be accepted and where they will be placed.

Narvaez chose to apply to the more elite program, she said, at Disneyland , where they accept only 300 students, as opposed to Disney World, where they accept more than 1,000. On Feb. 9, she learned she was accepted into the program in the role of attractions and spent the summer preparing to leave home for the first time to go live in Anaheim with four girls she had never met.

"We call it the Princess Palace," Narvaez said of her accommodations.

Five girls live in a spacious two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in Anaheim, with $140 a week coming out of their checks to pay for rent.

"There is one girl from Arizona, one from Las Vegas, another girl, who is my best friend now is from Chicago, and we are getting a new roommate. She's an international student from Brazil," Narvaez said. "We haven't met her yet. She's coming this month."

"It's a really great program," she said. "While you are here, you are learning how to budget your money, because we do have to pay rent. You live with other people. You learn how to grow up. It's been exciting to be on my own.

"(It's) also stressful learning new things and depressing to be away from family, but mostly fun," she said.

When the girls arrive at Disney College, they are trained on how to make the magic that is Disney.

"Once you are hired, you have to go through a bunch of classes like Traditions, The History of Walt Disney and the company, and a class on how you are expected to act as a cast member. Disneyland is a show. So we call the people who come to Disneyland "guests,' and we are "cast members.' When you are on stage — meaning anytime you are working — you need to maintain a certain image. Because we are ones who make the magic."

The next day is Welcome to Park Operations, where interns learn what they are expected to do in their departments and are given their location where they will be working. Narvaez landed a spot working in the Tiki Room, and on the World Famous Jungle Cruise Attraction, where she is "Skipper Angel' to guests.

"It's really fun because you get to be theatrical and funny and interact with the guests," she said. "It was really tough to memorize a script but it's basically a guide and you add your own character into it. I've had celebrities on my boat, comedienne Maya Rudolph, a professional baseball player, and yesterday I loaded Micheal Jackson's kids. Pretty much every day is fun and everyday is a new experience. Everyday is so different."

The girls work eight-hour shifts five days a week, plus, in their off time, they are required to take classes at Disney University. Classes can be credited courses that students can use toward their college graduation, or seminar courses, to broaden their horizons.

"On my days off I am usually at class or playing in the park," she said. "I ride the Jungle Cruise. I just like to explore. I've ridden pretty much every ride and I like to try different foods and take photos with friends. I've explored California a little bit and we got to tour Walt Disney's apartment and I've gone to the beach a couple of times and just had a fun night out with friends. Just stuff to get our minds off the stress," she said.

As cast members, Narvaez said, the interns are required to follow four cues every day: safety, courtesy, show and efficiency.

"I've gotten recognized by some of my leaders," she said. "If you are following the four cues, someone can recognize you for that."

In addition to playing "Skipper Angel,' Narvaez has gotten to work as a photographer, shooting photos of guests at the theme park having fun, and work other special assignments.

"As an attractions cast member we also do crowd control with the parades to keep people moving," she said.

There's never a dull moment, and she even got to realize one of her childhood dreams.

"I worked the Backstreet Boys concert!" she said. "They were filming for the Christmas special and I got to be their security guard. They played their new Christmas song off their new album and I was really close to them. No more than two feet. After that they went to the Jungle Cruise ride so I was really sad I didn't get to have them on my boat because I working a special event."

While Narvaez has been making magic for hundreds of guests at Disneyland, the program has been making memories for her. Some of her favorite have been just having fun while doing her job.

"One of most memorable moments was when we were having operational difficulties and we had to shut down the ride, but we don't tell guests that we are having problems because we have to keep the magic alive so we told them there are hippos in the trees and it's really hard to get them out!" she said. Me and a few of the skippers would just stand outside the ride and we had a bongo drum and we play that and just talk to the guests."

As she gets ready for her internship to end on Jan. 5, Narvaez said she is sad to have to say good-bye to the magic of Disney.

"I'm very upset that I'm leaving," she said. "I want to stay with the company but I know the right thing to do is to come back and get my degree. It will be exciting to get my degree and come back and expand my opportunities."

Overall, the Disney College internship has helped Narvaez see what opportunities she might like to pursue after graduation.

"It's pretty much changed my life," she said. "I've only been here for three months now. I've networked and I'm really interested in media hosting. I like putting together events and I love the entertainment department of Walt Disney Company — the shows, the characters. It's just a whole different experience and something I'd highly recommend. I think it's helped me grow as a person. It's helped me find what I want to do in the future. I do know that once I graduate, I want to come back with the program. I know I want to grow within the Walt Disney program. There are so many different departments and different opportunities."

And participating in the program goes hand-in-hand with her major at WNMU, business management.

Her parents, she said, have been nothing but supportive throughout her internship.

"They are excited I'm learning to grow up with the Walt Disney Company," she said. "There is no better way to grow up but with Mickey Mouse."

Besides the magic, Narvaez is getting some real-world experience, and some practice at some very necessary life skills.

"One of the most important things I've learned here is patience," she said. "Every day, you deal with different guests especially if the park is busy — then you deal with grouchy guests. You just have to keep the magic alive and keep smiling,"

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